Love M.D. (30 page)

I hold her hand in mine.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Someone tried to get onto the
property today. One of the guards was injured.”

“Injured how?”

“He was shot.”

“Oh my God, is he going to be
okay?”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Which guard was it?”

“Slater.”

“Did the police arrest the person
who did it?”

I hesitate. “Baby, he was shot and
killed.”

“Oh God.” She sits on the nearby
chair. “Was it Todd?”

“I don’t know, but if it was, he
wasn’t working alone. A dinghy was waiting for him and sped away when he was
shot. It was found abandoned.”

“This is unbelievable.”

“Come on. Let’s get a shower, and we’ll
figure out what to do from here.”

She’s not in tears, but the mood is
definitely somber. After we shower, I think to turn on the TV, but I’m not sure
if this made the news. I don’t know that I want an update now.

Several hours later, Lucas calls
and we return home. The body is gone, but the place is still crawling with
cops. Zoë hasn’t said much since I told her. However, as we approach the dock,
she fidgets nervously. When we make it off the boat, Lucas is there to greet us
with another guard and the police.

“Doctor Drake, meet Rick. He will
be replacing Slater until he’s back on his feet.”

“Nice to meet you,” I reply. Both
Zoë and I shake his hand. He’s big and tall and could pass for one of those
guys you see on a SWAT team.

“Is Slater going to be okay?” Zoë
asks.

“He will,” Lucas replies. “He was
hit in the hip. He’s awake and out of surgery.”

She smiles slightly and after
saying goodnight, she heads up to the house. Another guard escorts her through
the dimly lit property. I stay back with Lucas and the police to get a complete
update.

“Were you all able to identify the
guy that got killed?”

“We did,” one of the officers
replies. “It wasn’t Todd Hughes.”

“I think you need to install
cameras here, sir,” Lucas says. “To cover both the waterfront and the road.”

“Handle it. Just send me the bill.
And I want it done yesterday. I don’t care what it costs.”

“I’ll start working on it
immediately.”

“Did he make it to the house?”

“No. He was shot and died over
there.” He points to a wet spot on the pier in front of a bench. Just days ago,
Zoë sat in that very spot.

“Thanks, Lucas. Call me on my phone
if you need anything. I’ll check in, as usual, once we’re turning in.

When I get upstairs, Zoë sits in
the living room on her laptop. I’m not certain what I expected, but I know it
wasn’t this.

I’m not quite sure how she’s
dealing with this. She’s been very quiet from the moment I told her what
happened. She hasn’t been crying, but I’m not used to seeing her this silent.

“What are you doing?”

“Working,” she replies.

“On what?”

“I’m just making lists, things I
need to do, things I need to replace, people I need to call.”

I think she is still very much in a
state of shock. She could be handling this in much worse ways, so I support
her.

“Can I get you anything? Maybe some
tea? Coffee? Or a glass of wine?”

“No, I’m good,” she smiles.
“Thanks.”

I know how to handle tears. I can
respond to something she says, but this silence is foreign to me. I’m not sure
how to deal with it. Is she pissed at me, the situation, or is this her way of coping?

“I have some calls to make and
emails to follow up on. Are you going to be okay?”

“Sure.”

I spend the next couple of hours in
the library, periodically poking my head upstairs to check on her. She appears
to be okay, so okay that she has her glasses on as her hands rapidly move over
her keyboard.

Neither Deandre nor his brother has
returned any of my calls. I’m worried, and I think it may be necessary to check
in on him at home if I don’t hear from him by tomorrow. I’m due to return to
the hospital the day after. With all this going on, I’m not sure how I should
move ahead. I think I need to meet with Jonathan and Christina Hernández.
Perhaps that will give me some perspective.

When I’m done, I lock up and check
in with Lucas before I turn in. Zoë’s in bed, but she’s not asleep. I’d be
lying if I said I wasn’t worried about her. When I climb into bed, she switches
off her tablet and curls up to me the way she normally would. I feel better
after that.

We’ve been in bed for an hour, but
neither of us is asleep.

“Baby, do you want to talk about
it?”

“I don’t know that there’s too much
to say that you don’t already know. I can’t believe this is what my life has
come to. And the problem is, I have no clue why. I know eventually this will be
over. I wish it would be sooner rather than later. Sometimes I feel like I’m
going out of my mind. I can’t figure out why Todd would hate me so much that he’d
want to do this, especially after all this time. It just doesn’t make any
sense.”

“Don’t underestimate him. I don’t
know if this will change anything, but he wasn’t the one who was killed
tonight. Someone named Nick Payton. Do you know him?”

“No.”

“The D.A., Detective Bradshaw and
Jonathan will be coming by tomorrow. Maybe we’ll know something more then. In
the meantime, let’s try not to worry about it and get some rest.”

When I wake
the next morning, the house is bustling
with activity. Three service vehicles are outside, and men are mounting cameras
all over the property.

I have no idea where Morgan is, but
all his vehicles are here. I assume he’s somewhere on the grounds. My crew follows
me around as I look for him through the house. Eventually, from the pool deck,
I spot him down at the pier below. I think about joining him, but he looks like
he’s in deep conversation with Lucas and two other men. I choose to immerse
myself in work. I get out my laptop and enjoy some coffee while I work on the
patio.

I try not to think about what
happened here yesterday, though there are reminders all around me. For the rest
of the morning, Morgan spends his time all over the property. Just before lunch,
I hear what appears to be some serious construction in the garage. When I check
to see what’s going on, it looks like a third of the garage is being sectioned
off, for what I’m not sure. The wall studs are all in place.

Eventually Morgan shows up. He
kisses me lightly on my cheek and sits to drink a bottle of San Pellegrino.

“What’s going on? What are you
doing in the garage?”

“Just improving the security around
here.”

“Aren’t the guards enough? They
kept an intruder out yesterday… or did he get into the house?”

“No, he didn’t. I just don’t want
to take any chances. Hopefully, after what happened yesterday, anyone who had
any ideas of coming after you will have second thoughts.”

The doorbell rings a few hours
later. Jonathan, Detective Bradshaw and Christina Hernández walk in. After
exchanging pleasantries, we sit on the patio.

“We have so much to talk about,”
Christina says. “Doctor Jackson and his brother have officially been reported
missing.”

Morgan closes his eyes and massages
his temple with his fingertips. “By whom?” he asks.

“His brother’s wife. Neither of
them has been seen in the last twenty-four hours and neither is responding to
phone calls.”

“I know his brother, Shaun,”
Jonathan says. “When was the last time they were seen?”

“His brother left his office
yesterday at about eleven o’clock. He told his assistant he would be back at
the office in time for his three o’clock appointment but never returned. Doctor
Jackson told his assistant he was heading out to an appointment, and he’d be
back after lunch. His car was found at the hospital. After going through the
hospital cameras, we found out they’re together. Shaun picked up Deandre and
something happened after that—a car accident, something we don’t know. Both of
their phones go straight to voicemail.”

Morgan rakes his fingers through
his hair.

“Is there any reason to suspect
foul play?” Jonathan asks Christina.

“With the exception of the fact
that they were meeting me to hand over evidence, no. It’s highly suspicious,
but there is no evidence to suggest foul play. Also, the dinghy from the
incident yesterday was stolen from nearby. At the marina, we saw two men
fitting both the descriptions of the suspects. We got the feds involved. Car
plates are registered in Nevada, and the vehicle was reported stolen two days
ago. We’ve put a BOLO out in all neighboring states. If we make an arrest, at
least we’ll have someone to talk to.”

“Have you questioned Todd Hughes?”
Morgan asks.

“We did. Don’t forget he’s under
surveillance. We know where he’s been,” Detective Bradshaw says.

“We should get those lab results
about the dirt samples and shoe prints in a couple days,” Christina says. “If
we get a match, we’ll immediately make an arrest.”

“I don’t think Todd is in a
position to pay people to come after me.”

“Zoë, why do you continue to
underestimate this man when he made his feelings clear to you?” Morgan asks
tersely.

“Because I’m not sure the Todd I
know would do this.”

Glaring at me, Morgan doesn’t
respond. I suspect we’ll have a conversation about this later.

“He may not be financially in a
position to do it, but he has a motive to get rid of you,” Detective Bradshaw
says. “We found out he’s engaged to be married, and his girlfriend is pregnant
with twins. That monthly three thousand dollar lawsuit payment might be all the
motivation he needs.”

“That’s insane! I used to be
married to this man. I knew he was an asshole, but could I have been such a bad
judge of character? I mean I know he called and threatened me again recently,
but I just don’t understand why he’d wait until now to do this.”

Detective Bradshaw responds, “Miss
Jenkins, people make bad decisions all the time because of finances. There’s
also that embarrassing situation he had at that restaurant. He might be
encouraged to talk after those test results return.”

“What about the hospital?” Morgan
asks.

“In light of what’s happened to
Deandre, we need to figure out now more than ever what those substances were,”
Christina says.

“Then I’ll have to figure out a way
to see if there were any samples of that substance left,” Morgan says.

“And how do you intend to do that?”
I ask, shocked by his statement.

“I don’t know. But if Deandre is
missing, maybe someone knew he was getting those samples ready to send out,”
Morgan replies.

Anxiety builds within me. “Then if
that’s true, doesn’t the possibility also exist that they know you might be
involved in this?”

“That’s a high possibility,”
Jonathan concurs, looking at Morgan.

“This is getting too risky,” I say.
“Everywhere I turn, there’s danger. I don’t want you to go back to that
hospital, at least not until this is over.”

“I didn’t want to do this, but I
think I’ll have to consider trying this case without any inside information,”
Christina says, shaking her head. “Zoë’s right. This is very risky, but with no
samples to find out what we’re looking for, this is one of those cases that may
fall through the cracks. We have no motive, we don’t know what that substance
is, and I’m sure plenty of doctors will be willing to say that these two
patients died of natural causes or causes associated with their surgeries. Now
we have a key witness and his brother missing. We simply don’t have enough
evidence for a case. At this point, we still don’t know who was responsible for
giving those patients the chemical or substance or whatever it is.”

“I refuse to let that happen,”
Morgan says. “Their families deserve an answer.”

My mind is working overtime. “Stop!
Just stop. I know how to fix this, at least for you and me,” I say, looking at
Morgan. Everyone looks at me. “If Zach’s body is exhumed, can we get the
evidence we need that way? That way Morgan doesn’t have to return to that
hospital. I don’t know about the other family, but I would authorize it if it
meant keeping you safe.”

“Zoë, are you certain this is a
course of action you’d like to pursue?” Jonathan asks. “This can be an
extremely emotional and difficult process.”

I sigh. “I know. The thought alone
is difficult, but the only thing that could make my life over the last few
months get any worse is for Morgan to get hurt over this.”

“Think about this for a while,”
Morgan says.

“No, babe. There’s nothing to think
about.”

“This might be the safest way,”
Christina says. “We have both sets of results Doctor Jackson did. We’re hoping
the hospital doesn’t know this. If we exhume your brother’s body and get a
sample of that substance, we might be able to find out what it is and where it’s
from. It will, at the very least, give us a starting point.”